There’s a new Jesus and Mo…which Jesus kicks off by pronouncing the Koran overrated.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
There’s a new Jesus and Mo…which Jesus kicks off by pronouncing the Koran overrated.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
I’m reading Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen’s collection of essays Making Minds and Madness: From Hysteria to Depression. It’s about what one might call the epistemology of psychoanalysis, and its relationship to things like reputation and fashion and consensus. There’s a bit on page 160…
… Read the restThe fact is that psychoanalysis managed to impose itself in significant sectors of twentieth-century society as the only psychological theory worthy of the name and the only psychotherapy capable of theorizing its own practice. In such locations, calling into question the unconscious, the Oedipus complex, or infantile sexuality could – and still can – provoke the same incredulous hilarity as do Kansas creationists or members of the “Flat Earth Society.” There, psychoanalysis has become indisputable, incontrovertible. It
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Excellent piece by Dan Fincke the other day, on why Dawkins wasn’t wrong or mean to say at the Reason Rally that patently absurd religious beliefs should be as subject to mockery as any other patently absurd beliefs, and in fact more so, since their very immunity helps people to go on being included as “Catholics” and other brands of believer when in fact they aren’t really believers at all.
… Read the restWhile the media has largely ignored The Reason Rally, the one most popular bit of news that seems to be traveling around and getting criticized is Richard Dawkins’s recommendation to the crowd that we should incredulously and mockingly ask people who say they are Catholic whether they really believe in
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The archbishop is at it again. This time it’s “enough of all this selfish focus on how you are marginalized because you’re a woman or black or gay – we are all in this together so shut up about it and let the nice straight white men keep running things as we always have, ok?”
Of course he doesn’t put it quite that way. Well naturally not – you don’t get to be an archbishop by putting things that way. (Oh yes? What about George Carey then?) He puts it in the usual grand archepiscopal way.
… Read the restIn Cardiff he was joined a group of teenagers debating the idea of “identity politics” which he said amounted to saying: “This is
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A nice write-up of a chat by David Cameron to some religious bossies.
He starts by saying he welcomes the Easter message as being one of hope, but at the same time admits that he has problems believing a word of it – particularly the resurrection! Even so, he welcomes what he calls the “Christian fightback” in Britain.
It is not clear what this “fightback” is against but he measures it in “the enormous reception of the Pope’s visit.”
However, the Pope’s visit – as the Catholic Church’s own research showed – was a comprehensive flop.
And if it hadn’t been, what would he be doing rejoicing about it anyway? What is this deranged assumption that all of a … Read the rest
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The French approach to autism was discussed a couple of months ago, too.
… Read the restA controversial new film by French documentary filmmaker Sophie Robert, screened last week at an autism conference here in Philadelphia, reminds the world that in France these thoroughly discredited and dangerous ideas still hold considerable sway. The film, Le Mur or The Wall, already viewed tens of thousands of times on YouTube, is calling attention to the ongoing stranglehold that psychoanalytic theories still have over autism treatment in France.
The film’s interviews with prominent French psychiatrists leaves the viewer wondering whether in France treatments for pediatric developmental disorders are stuck in some sort of bizarre Freudian time warp. These ideas have been so thoroughly debunked in
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“Is it convincing to claim that, shorn of the myth, the poverty or the plain ordinariness of psychoanalysis will be plain for all to see?”… Read the rest
We all have a special dignity because we are all, alike, children of God and equal in His eyes. This is a divinely ordained, supernaturally guaranteed L’Oréal advertisement.… Read the rest
“We will resist, by continuing to strongly defend our beliefs. French psychiatry, which is admired throughout the world, must not be swept aside using evaluation criteria as the means.”… Read the rest
A controversial new film by French documentary filmmaker Sophie Robert reminds the world that in France these discredited and dangerous ideas still hold considerable sway.… Read the rest
In France people are still medically treated on the basis of the four humors.
No they’re not, that’s a bitter joke, because the truth is almost as horrifying – children with autism are treated with psychoanalysis.
… Read the restIn many countries, the standard way of treating autistic children is with behavioural therapy – stimulating and rewarding them to develop the skills they need to function in society – but France still puts its faith in psychoanalysis. And an increasing number of parents are now demanding change.
For autism campaigners, it is one of the most serious health scandals of our times.
How for decades France turned its back on the latest scientific thinking, and treated autism as a form of psychosis.
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Here’s a funny thing – Geoff posted some photos from QED at Facebook today, including this one
It turns out that the guy at the mic asking a question is David Aaronovitch. I hadn’t even known he was at the talk, let alone that he’d asked a question! This is all the funnier since I’d gone to his talk three hours earlier, and been informed and entertained by it.
I guess while talking I was so focused on content that I didn’t register faces. Or something. Mind you, people were instructed to say their names when they asked their question…I’m hoping he didn’t actually say, firmly and distinctly, “I’m David Aaronovitch.” I’m hoping he just said “I’m David.” I’m hoping … Read the rest
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Peter Heehs is a scholar of Sri Aurobindo, but some devotees consider his book “blasphemous” and sued to get his visa canceled.… Read the rest
“In France it is the psychiatrists – heavily influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis – who remain in charge. And they have shut themselves off from all the changes in our knowledge of autism.”… Read the rest
He calls himself The Scary Guy, and his price tag can run as much as $6,500 a day.… Read the rest
The couple refused to accept the girl after accidentally being given the boy, who belongs to another couple, the hospital says.… Read the rest
Eric MacDonald has a very good piece on Julian’s humanist manifesto. He makes the same point I kept making (and really, it’s hard not to – it’s so obvious):
… Read the restJulian Baggini has now published his Heathen’s Manifesto, which he begs atheists to read. I wish I could understand the motivation behind it. It seems to be based on the premise that atheists, and new atheists in particular — an unidentified assemblage of nonbelievers who are, it seems, strident, obtuse, impolite, and seek to banish religion from the world — need to grow up, be sensible and kind, and ally themselves with their allies amongst religious believers, something that, so far, they seem disinclined to do. I sometimes simply
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Many British Asian women report hate mail and death threats for dealing with issues such as forced marriage and honour-based violence.… Read the rest
He projected the images onto a screen during a meeting for parents preparing for First Holy Communion. They were naughty pics of [gasp] men.… Read the rest
The Heresy Club is a group blog of young heretical bloggers – Alex Gabriel, Siana Bangura, Rhys Morgan, Richard Nicholl and Hayley Stevens. You’re already familiar with Alex and Rhys if you’ve been reading B&W for awhile: they were starring daily back in January. I met both of them at QED, and Hayley as well. Check them out and if you like the blog, spread the word!
… Read the restTo be young and heretical in 2012 is to experience the intense realities of superstitious thought.
In our schools, we see science teachers treat Genesis with kid gloves. We see intereference in students’ private lives who blaspheme online. We see religious worship in British classrooms, and prayer creeping unconstitutionally back into American schools.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)